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Check out the rest of our 2017 Year in Review package.

Encouraged by her mother, Kent kindergartner Lola Jones honored Black History Month by dressing up as a different, influential black woman—such as Rosa Parks, Shirley Chisholm, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison and Misty Copeland—every day in February. “You hope that your kid grows up to do incredible things,” said mom Cristi Smith-Jones, “and having examples for them just kind of guides them.” 

Beacon Hill dad Jeffrey Lew created a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to pay off lunch debts at his son’s elementary school. He quickly met that goal and through other crowdfunding campaigns, he’s now raised more than $100,000 to eliminate lunch debt for all Seattle public schools. That accomplished, Lew has a new goal: to eliminate lunch debt at all schools in Washington state.  

Ron Glaser, CEO of Seattle-based video entertainment company RealNetworks, donated $200,000 to a $500,000 fundraiser to support a Mother Jones reporting project called “Trumpocracy: The Russia Connection,” to investigate suspicious ties between Trump and Russia. He’ll throw in another $50K when fundraising is completed. 

Fourteen-year-old Cordelia Longo advocated for the availability of free tampons at her middle school on Mercer Island; she collected more than 100 signatures from her peers, and within a week, feminine products were available—and free—in school bathrooms. 

To help with the city’s homeless epidemic, community-building nonprofit Facing Homelessness, led by architect and activist Rex Hohlbein, launched the Block pilot project, a housing initiative that places tiny homes in the backyards of volunteer homeowners.